Roustein

Welcome to Roustein!

We play every two weeks or so at the Janzen household. Click on the tabs above to see our latest adventures or read about the characters.

What is Roustein?

The Roustein city-state lies in the boonies of an extraordinary world; a world of where supernatural powers, fantastic machines, and magic potions enforce the schemes of the rich and powerful. Cut off from the great human empires of the world, the rough-and-tumble human settlers of this untamed backwater struggle to defend their fiefdoms against dragons and monsters, but mostly against one another. The long history of the land before Roustein’s brief centuries hides many ancient powers and mysteries, sealed away in dungeons by invincible emperors, now forgotten within the folds of time. And as of late, an unusual amount of strange rumors have been whispered in the smoky taverns and muddy alleys…

In this West March -like sandbox campaign, each player writes up a back story for their character that helps drive the unfolding events in Roustein. Was your character discovered on a doorstep, or do they carry an ancient curse? Perhaps a mysterious birthmark on their shoulder? Let your imagination drive the story!

Genre

This campaign modifies original DnD rules in order to migrate the game genre to include some aspects of the Harry Potter world, Avatar: The Last Air Bender cartoons, and nudge away from some of Gygax’s literary influences. Even though the game includes Ent and Halfling player characters, the genre would be much more accurately described as Harry meets Aang and the Gray Mouser than your typical dark Tolkien genre. Two game mechanics were changed to support our collage: casting magic spells can get you into big trouble if someone sees you, and Alignments are based on the elements separate from and in addition to the human alignment system.

Home Brew Rules, Pre AD&D

In addition to changing the rules to require specialized schooling and unlimited classes, we have also added rules designed to engage different players in different activities. Since we typically have over ten players at each session, a session filled with combat challenges tend to leave less aggressive or less tactical players silently observing the game. Game rules expand the action to include distraction, mechanical, and political challenges. Even though this makes the game different, it has a strong tendency to rotate the activity around the table so no one is left in silent observer mode.